Drug-free remission: the goal of the future in management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis according to the "treat-to-target" strategy requires achievement of remission or low disease activity when remission cannot be achieved (mostly in patients with advanced disease). The assessment of remission and low disease activity is based on a number of definitions depending on the applied instruments which do not always correspond to one another. The role of biomarkers and imaging techniques (ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging) in predicting the risk for disease relapse after achieving remission and tapering disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs treatment are presented.

Reactive arthritis.

Reactive arthritis (ReA) is a non-purulent joint inflammation that usually follows bacterial gastrointenstinal or urogenital infections. The classic presentation of ReA is characterized by an asymmetric arthritis usually in the lower limbs associated with urethritis, conjunctivitis and occurrence of other articular or extra-articular manifestations. ReA is classified as a type of seronegative spondyloarthopathy.

Prevalence of thyroid diseases and antithyroid antibodies in women with rheumatoid arthritis.

Introduction: Thyroid abnormal function and and/or autoimmune thyroid disease (ATD) are observed in 6% to 33.8% patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine whether ATD is more prevalent in patients with RA compared to the control group involving age and sex-matched subjects without RA and whether these patients should be screened for thyroid disease.

[The prevalence and clinical significance of antiphospholipid antibodies in rheumatoid arthritis].

Published data were reviewed to evaluate the occurrence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and to investigate their clinical relevance in this population. The mean prevalence of aPL in RA patients was calculated at 28%. Few studies have found a relationship between aPL and thrombosis, particularly in combination with other risk factors.